What is Health Insurance?

Health insurance is a good way to help you manage your health care costs. You pay health care companies premiums – a set amount of money each month - and you get benefits to pay for your eligible health care expenses. This can include regular doctor checkups or injuries to treatment for long-term illnesses.

You can purchase individual health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace on your own. Even though it’s called individual health insurance, you can also find plans to cover your family. Because health care can be expensive, it’s a smart idea to have health insurance so you’re prepared for when you or your family have medical needs.

How Does Health Insurance Work?

No matter which plan you choose, you’ll pay a monthly payment (premium) to keep your health insurance coverage. You may also pay each time you receive medical care (co-payment) or (co-insurance). Generally, the more you pay per month (premium), the lower your deductibles and out-of-pocket costs.

When you’re looking at health insurance plans, the biggest differences are in the services they cover and how much they’ll pay for those services. With some plans, you’ll pay a certain amount when you have a service – that can be called a co-payment or coinsurance, depending on your plan.

If you have a deductible, that’s the amount you’ll have to pay for covered services before the insurance starts paying.

Most of the time, you’ll pay for part of your health care services until you’ve paid the “out of pocket maximum.” After that, the health insurance usually pays for covered expenses.